John Graham “Johnny” “Red” Kerr (July 17, 1932[1] – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching and administrative positions before embarking on a thirty-three year career as a television color commentator for the Chicago Bulls.

In 1963, the Nationals relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and became known as the 76ers. Two years later, Kerr was traded to the Baltimore Bullets for Wali Jones. After averaging 11.0 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Bullets during the 1965-1966 season, Kerr was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Expansion Draft. However, Kerr voluntarily retired so that he could become the coach of his hometown’s new basketball team. He ended his career on November 4, 1965 with a 108-7 loss to New York, with respectable totals of 12,480 points and 10,092 rebounds, along with the NBA record for most consecutive games played (844) until 1983 when he was surpassed by Randy Smith.

Kerr is credited with bringing Jerry Sloan to the Chicago Bulls.[2] The team went 33-48 in 1966-1967 and became the first expansion team to win a playoff berth in its inaugural season. For this accomplishment, Kerr was rewarded the NBA Coach of the Year Award. He is also the only coach to receive this award after his team finished with a losing record. The Bulls went 29-53 the following season, rallying from a 1-15 start to earn another playoff berth. However, feuds with team owner Dick Klein forced Kerr to leave the Bulls during the summer of 1968 and sign with the Phoenix Suns, another expansion team in need of its first coach. Unfortunately, the Suns finished with a 16-66 record in 1968-1969, and after starting the 1969-1970 season with a 15-23 record, Kerr was forced to resign.

Despite resigning as coach, Kerr stayed with the Suns franchise for the remainder of the 1969-1970 season, working as a broadcaster with Hot Rod Hundley. He spent the next two seasons as a business manager with the ABA’s Virginia Squires,[3] then returned to the Chicago Bulls to work in their front office. In 1975, the Bulls' play-by-play announcer, Jim Durham, suggested that Kerr provide commentary during games,[4] and Kerr remained as a color commentator until the end of the 2007–08 season.[5]

As a broadcaster, Kerr oversaw the Bulls' six championships in the 1990s and Michael Jordan's entire career with the team. He was known for making the call on "The Shot", Jordan's series-winning basket in Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 Eastern Conference Playoffs. Over the years, Kerr and Jordan developed a pre-game ritual in which Jordan would head to the broadcasting area and playfully clap talcum powder in front of Kerr.[6] Jordan later said, "I don’t know how it started. I think he had a nice suit on and I wanted to mess him up a little."[7]